How to Develop a Logic Model for Districtwide Family Engagement Strategies is a step-by-step guide to help you understand and develop a logic model for districtwide family engagement efforts. It is designed to accompany Seeing is Believing: Promising Practices for How School Districts Promote Family Engagement, a policy brief created by Harvard Family Research Project and the National PTA.

"The row comes as the SPTC is also under threat following separate calls by Fiona Hyslop, the Education Secretary, for parents to set up a new national parent group, which would effectively replace the SPTC.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "The appointment process for selecting the new SQA Board was carried out in accordance with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland (OCPAS) Code of Practice. An independent OCPAS assessor concluded that Mr Gallagher met all the criteria for the post.

"Parents have a direct voice in the development of Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). There is a parental representative on the SQA Advisory Council as well as the Cabinet Secretary's CfE Stakeholder group. Furthermore, the Cabinet Secretary has already said she wants to help parents establish a National Parents' Forum so that there could be a strong parental input engaging with Government at national level on education issues.""

The row comes as the SPTC is also under threat following separate calls by Fiona Hyslop, the Education Secretary, for parents to set up a new national parent group, which would effectively replace the SPTC.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "The appointment process for selecting the new SQA Board was carried out in accordance with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland (OCPAS) Code of Practice. An independent OCPAS assessor concluded that Mr Gallagher met all the criteria for the post.

"Parents have a direct voice in the development of Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). There is a parental representative on the SQA Advisory Council as well as the Cabinet Secretary's CfE Stakeholder group. Furthermore, the Cabinet Secretary has already said she wants to help parents establish a National Parents' Forum so that there could be a strong parental input engaging with Government at national level on education issues."

""A few years ago, when a telephone was installed in every classroom in my school district, a colleague allowed use of the phone as an incentive for high scores on spelling tests," recalled Donna Kelley. "I loved the idea, and I too began using the phone as a tool to validate my students' work and communicate with parents."Donna Kelley's fourth graders get to brag about their accomplishments.

Kelley firmly believes that effective communication between home and school is an invaluable teaching tool. In her Westminster, Colorado, classroom, she uses a variety of communication tools, such as classroom newsletters, phone calls to the home (before problems become serious), Friday folders, conferences, and one that is especially popular with her fourth graders -- "brag calls!""

Cell phones are an integral part of kids’ lives. According to research by C&R Research, 22 percent of young children own a cell phone (ages 6-9), 60 percent of tweens (ages 10-14), and 84 percent of teens (ages 15-18. And cell phone companies are now marketing to younger children with colorful kid-friendly phones and easy-to-use features. According to market research firm the Yankee Group, 54 percent of 8 to12 year olds will have cell phones within the next three years.

With cell phone usage growing rapidly for children and teens, we offer the following information and tips for parents: "

"This is my first post, so I hope I am doing it right. I have been mulling over ideas about how our school could create a more cost effective and environmentally friendly communication strategy with parents. Our website is in the process of being updated so this is not an option as of now but hopefully will be in the near future. I proposed a thought that I had to our principal. It was to create a database of e-mail addresses of parents so that things such as the newsletter from the school and council, reminders of upcoming events, etc. could be sent quickly and easily at the touch of the button. She is unaware of any schools in our board doing such a thing and is thinking that it might be too much of an endeavour to collect, maintain and update the e-mail list. She would prefer to purchase SynerVoice which is essentially the same thing as the e-mail thought but with phone numbers and the home receives a call from the school automatically"